2018 Yearly review... Yes, I know, I know it's late!

I feel like I can't get the blogging monkey off my back until I do this, so here goes, even though it is now February.

1. Add at least 2000 points spread across both my High Elf and Orc and Goblin armies by the end of the year. No, but I don't mind because I played more games of WFB in 2018 than I ever have before with the painted Orc and Goblins and High Elves that I do have. This included 4 games of WFB5 in 2 days at the excellently enjoyable Middlehammer meet up at BIG in Bristol back in September 2018.

I did get some minis painted towards this goal but nowhere near the 2000 pt total.

Eltharion on 'Storm Wing' drew the ire of Chris from Macrocosm by wiping out his Chaos Dwarf artillery :)

2. Finish the main Rogue Quest Project and any associated side projects currently planned.Yes! This goal was achieved back in XXX although it took me until XXX to write the blog post. I do now have more Rogue Quest side projects, some already completed some pending, but that is all good and a sign of a happily expanding project.

More to come from Inquisitor Halleck and his crew of dangerous misfits in the year ahead

3. Complete an all metal (or primarily metal) conversion. 

"This should involve actually cutting into lead! Drilling and pinning, and filling with green stuff. All things which any hobbyist worth their salt should be proficient in, and which I've never had a huge amount of success with, prior to a half a decent fix on a broken Trolls leg earlier this year. I'm reasonably confident, though not very skilled with converting plastic, but working with metal will be pushing my modelling skills."

Although I'm not sure I completed an 'all metal' conversion (plastic will have been involved) I'm very proud to say metal work including cutting, drilling, pinning and filling is now becoming a standard part of my hobby practice, and one I enjoy far more than I ever thought I would. The salvaged War-bot I put together for my Star Bastards project is probably my favourite example of drilling and pinning style conversions. What has become clear however is my green stuff/sculpting skills need A LOT of work.

A teaser for a future post about my Star Bastards project, completed last spring so you should see it around 2021 at this rate

4. Run the Middlehammer Legacy Project for a second year.
Yes! The Warband of the Weird and Wonderful was a great success and as I sit here now writing this in February it reminds me that we should do another one... soon!

Two warbands worth of chaotic craziness from the Middlehammer community - let's do it again!

5. Sell or trade more minis, games, and rule books....Listen, I'm just going to let this pledge quietly die in the corner after four straight years of being unfulfilled. Hush now... It will be better for everyone if it just goes quietly.

So what did I get done?
Well, loads of gaming for one thing, and a fair bit of painting not already shown here, but not much blogging. Here's a list of blog posts either in draft or yet to be started:

Crisis in Caledor parts 3 and 4
Star Bastards
Middlefest
Orktober 2018
Kit-bash Challenge
Rogue Quest - level 7

Hopefully sorting this post out will help me kick start the blogging action again and some of those posts will actually get published!

And what are the plans for 2019?

Well first and foremost, more gaming! Fellow Middlehammerer Ben and I have just launched the St Valentine's World Massacre WH40K campaign and we will be playing our first game next week in Bristol. I'm also signed up for a game of WH40K 2nd ED at BOYL this year so that ambition finally looks like becoming a reality. Then there is the meet up planned in Exeter in September with some of the same crowd from the WFB5 event in Bristol last year, so that should be a good craic too!

Phlegm Greyhorn and his raiding party with two 'Beasts of  Nurgle' (from the Grenadier 1983 Call of Cthulu line)

Apart from carrying on with the monthly painting challenges on the Middlehammer group I'm also taking part in the very excellent Old World Army Challenge with my Nurgle Beastman Warband. It's going to be quite a challenge but I'm already really enjoying it and thee is some absolutely fantastic looking work from the other challengers. I heartily encourage you to check it out!

Well, that's the plan anyway. Now let's see how the hobby muses distract me this year :)

My Summer Painting Challenge - Formula Waaaarggghhh!

I need to get the blogging monkey off my back!

It's been way too long since I posted and the half finished articles are mounting up - this is actually sort of a good thing as it means that although I haven't been blogging I have been doing loads of painting, and even better, loads of playing!

It's been an action packed summer and early autumn so far and I've got lots I want to share, so without further ado let's take a look at my project for the Middlehammer Summer Painting Challenge - a GorkaMorka era Kult of Speed for my/my son's 2nd Edition WH40k Ork Horde.

The Summer painting comp ran from June-August, with the simplest of themes - pledge whatever you were going to be working on, post progress at the end of each month, and pledge what you would do for the next month. My son had been enjoying playing Orks vs Space Marines against my mate Shaun for a laugh but was complaining he didn't have any tanks (although he did have his Blood Axe Kommandos steal a broken down Rhino APC in the first game to make up for this deficiency) so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on a Kult of Speed.

I'd inherited my younger brothers copy of Gorkamorka about 3 months after he bought it. I got as far as sticking the models together and using them in my largely unpainted 2nd Ork force, although I apparently got as far as spray painting them white. This was fine for the Orks themselves but very annoying for the vehicles. Note to self: all vehicles in future to be undercoated black. I started off with the two Wartraks and the Warbike that came with the box set.

I wanted to stay true to the Kult of Speed being Evil Sunz, so a nice strong red was chosen as the base colour as it would also work with various corroded and rusty, oily metal colours.

These were never going to be painted to anything more than basic tabletop standard, partly because I knew they were going to be played with heavily by my 5 year old son, but also because we were on a time limit - more games needed to be played! I was constantly being monitored by my aspiring Ork Warboss offspring and was getting proper side eye if he caught me working on anything other than Ork vehicles!

Luckily I got them finished just in time for the next Ork vs Space Marine clash where they had a whale of a time driving at full speed off the battlefield only to reappear having missed a turn, but miraculously picking up reinforcements along the way to replace any vehicles that had been destroyed. You can see them above enjoying a spot of pre-battle Formula Waaarggghhh!

I'm not always a huge fan of the GorkaMorka ork sculpts, they are very hit and miss imho, but the metal body for the warbike rider is one of the better ones.

With the success of the June project, and the sheer chaotic joy of the second Ork vs Space Marine battle, the bar was raised for July and I pledged the remaining two Ork Trukks (count as War Buggies in 2nd Ed) from the GM box set, plus two more Middlehammer Era plastic Warbikes.

Still not sure why one box was made landscape and one was portrait, but I do know it caused me cognitive dissonance while working on them.

The Trukks/Buggies got a black undercoat (as did the bikes) and this made the whole process a lot quicker. Not that it was a long and complicated paint job to begin with of course, as demonstrated by the resolute lack of highlighting! However, the choice of a new can of untried gloss varnish did nothing to help the situation and these ended up a *tad* shinier than I had hoped for. In the future that can of varnish is being saved for anything that needs to be safe for marine travel...

The two warbikes were pristine kits so still had their banner stickers, which will do for now although I have to admit I'm not overly fond of them and would prefer some more individual banners eventually.

I upgraded one of the Trukk/Buggies Heavy Bolters to a Heavy Plasma Gun using the weapon from an old Space Crusade Dreadnought that had been knocking around my bits box for years, as the clip on fixing was similar in style to the GM kit. I did actually find the missing Heavy Bolter when looking for the Heavy Plasma, but definitely wanted some variation and some badly needed firepower for the Orks.

I stripped back many of the early customisations and extra bits and bobs when refurbing these, but to keep true to their Gorkamorka origins I kept the shotgun on the back panel - completely impractical though it is - and I'm glad I did as it is my son's favourite bit of the whole set I think :)

August arrived and the grand finale of the project was a Scorcher in need of some serious TLC. There were more early 'upgrades' to remove, and another white undercoat to deal with, but more worryingly was the snotling pump man was missing!

I salvaged the oversized tools from the old Battle Wagon set as deserving of a much more noble purpose at some unforeseen point in the future, and instead sourced some suitable Evil Sunz looking symbols from a fantasy Orc kit, and added some armour panels to the front.

I kept the turret mounted nutter with his double bolt guns, as intended by my teenaged brother many moons ago, deciding that this was too Orky to remove, especially as the turret top is long lost to time. The Gorkamorka bits box came to the rescue again with a Snotling toting an Ork icon who had sadly lost his legs to an earlier attempt at Ork conversion/surgery to a gyrostabilised monowheel. He got some green stuff booties and a new lease of life riding the back of the Scorcher on top of a giant fuel tank.... Look, I didn't say it would be a LONG new lease of life, OK!

I hate painting Chevrons. That is all.

I did have fund painting the Ork Glyphs though, although most of them are hidden behind the driver's head. More of those in the future I think :)

Here they all are, engines revving and raring to go! These are among the most basic paint jobs I've put out this year but this was still, for me, the most successful painting challenge of the year so far as it stemmed from/led to so much great gaming with my son and one of my best mates!

In fact it led directly to my Orctober 2018 project to paint up the old 2nd Ed Bloodbowl monopose Orcs as Formula Waaarrrrggghhhh! Pit crew for the game we had for my son's birthday, which was without doubt one of the most delightfully bonkers games I've ever played - but more on that in another post :)

Jumping the Queue + Hobby plans for 2018

Wow. Real life has really been kicking my arse recently. Work is crazy busy and I'm going to have to have another operation in the not too distant future so will be out of action again. Not the start to 2018 I had in mind...

Hobby time has shrunk to nearly nothing since the end of November (although thankfully I have still been able to run a couple of games of D&D) and all of my projects from the end of last year remain unfinished on my painting table.

Worse than that, I found myself without much painting mojo over the festive period and well into the new year, only barely managing to make the deadline for the Tale of Middlehammer Gamers December speed painting challenge, and running late with my Dwarfcember project, Ungrim Ironfist the Slayer King!

And here is below leading a nice big unit of Slayers. Come and have a go if you think you are hard enough and have no regard for your kneecaps!

With Russ taking a well earned break I found myself in charge of the monthly painting challenge again but shamelessly stole the "Jump The Queue" idea (paint a model you have only just bought/been given for Christmas rather than all those things you should be painting!) from his list as it seemed like a good antidote to more traditional 'start as you mean to go on' new years resolution type themes...

And yet I was still struggling! I should be painting any number of things: Tom Meier Zombie Dragon (unfinished Deadcember project), Necromunda minis to complete my Rogue Quest project (these were started Spring/Summer 2017 and ignored since), an Orc Trader (a UK Games Expo limited edition piece - which has had tiny amounts of paint applied on numerous occassions in completely impractical order, based solely on when I had left over colour mixed up that I thought might work on his numerous packages and parcels, resulting in a mess that hasn't been touched in months), Malifaux Neverborn reinforcements (a gift from a friend and at least 10 months since undercoating with only minimal work on basing), various assorted Alternative Armies and other sci-fi figs for my Star Bastards project (a November project not even started) - all projects worthy of attention, and if I couldn't find my mojo with these what was I going to surplant them with!?

In the end real life kicked me while I was down and I decided that what I needed was some soothing/mindless batch painting so settled on the regiment of Skinks which I had been planning as my Slannuary project anyway. However I had a nagging feeling that this didn't really count as jumping the queue so much as reordering it, and it was telling that they still remained untouched on my painting table as the month progressed.

But then one of my D&D group gave me a promo figure from the Walking Dead board game, which he picked up at UKGE 2017 and at last I had a proper contender to jump the queue! My mojo returned almost immediately and I braved the arctic temperatures the very next morning to rescue a can of black spray paint and nestle it under my armpit until it came up to a useable temp.

She immediately suggested herself as a Zombie Escher ganger, the perfect complement to the three non-Zombie Eschers I painted back in the Summer as part of my Rogue Quest project. Here she is trying to eat her former gang-sisters' brains.

As is so often the case, the painting challenge led to me applying more paint to lead and I also finished up a Zombie Bounty Hunter and a Sci-Fi Necromancer to finally complete the story and hence the project, but I really needed that extra little kick in the mojo provided by being allowed to jump the queue in January.

Since then I have definitely picked up the pace a bit and have painted the whole unit of Skinks that I had long planned as my Slannuary 2018 project, plus a couple of vintage hunks of lead in the shape of a C22 Amphisbaena and B'rkath from the Runequest Demons set (who I always thought was an Oldhammer 'pathetic aesthetic' style Werewolf until a knowledgeable member of the community helped me out with an ID) for the Middlehammer group's February challenge, which is being run this month by the incorrigible Bryan T and has seen some lovely entries including a couple of exquisite Night Horrors from Bill Rowbotham from EffCee painting. 

The Skinks are loosely inspired by blue and red poison arrow frogs, and the Amphisbaena is based on the colours of an albino Burmese python. I know it looks like I have just slapped some yellow paint over half an undercoated mini, but I assure you there were at least two more steps to this paint job!

B'rkath is grey because the one I already have painted is in brown and I wanted to be able to differentiate between my wimpy werewolves.

What the hell did I get up to last year, and how far off plan am I going to go in 2018!?

First of all, lets see how I did against the Hobby Ambitions I set at the beginning of last year, and update them for 2018.


1. Add at least 2000 points spread across both my High Elf and Orc and Goblin armies by the end of the year. Sadly I only managed a total of 1245 pts across both armies, which breaks down as follows (pts calculated as per WFB4/5 with equipment as I played them):

High Elves: Prince Tyrion (425), 4 Archers (52), Silver Helm Standard Bearer (86) = 563 pts

Orcs and Goblins: Orc Warboss (110), Goblin Warboss (50), 4 Fanatics (120), 1 Ogre (40), Goblin Standards x 2 (12), Musician x1 (6), Spearmen x 33 (99), 4 Orc Archers (30), Orc Standard Bearer (15), Manticore (200) = 682 pts
 
I still have a fair way to go with both lead piles, (especially as I have just purchased more Middlehammer goodness for both armies this very week) and definitely want to add more options to my tournament forces so this resolution stays at #1 for 2018.


2. Finish the main Rogue Quest Project and any associated side projects currently planned.
Well, I just barely missed this as I finished the last of the main characters last year and my Sci Fi undead minis from January completed the project, although the last blog posts remain unfinished so I still can't call this one done.

I'm going to replace it for 2018 with a resolution to finish my Bad Moon kill team (which is more like a small clan already, and will form a major part of my 40k Greenskin Horde) for Shadow War Armageddon, which includes the awesome Crom "Fat Belly" from Knightmare Miniatures which I cannot wait to paint up for use as a Super Gretchin - But! I'm only going to do that once I finish off the Rogue Quest blog posts :)
INSERT PIC OF CROM
 
3. Complete an all metal (or primarily metal) conversion. 

"This should involve actually cutting into lead! Drilling and pinning, and filling with green stuff. All things which any hobbyist worth their salt should be proficient in, and which I've never had a huge amount of success with, prior to a half a decent fix on a broken Trolls leg earlier this year. I'm reasonably confident, though not very skilled with converting plastic, but working with metal will be pushing my modelling skills."


4. Collect, convert, and paint my first Frostgrave War band.

Hmmmm.... This was already a carry over from 2016. What was it I said last year?

"This ambition stays as it is, with one amendment - NO MORE COLLECTING - the war band has to be assembled from the minis I already own. Apart from the replacement set of FG Soldiers. Obvs."

FAIL! I have no Frostgrave Warband with beautiful winter themed bases, but I do have more lead in the 'Potentially good for Frostgrave' sub category of the lead pile...

I'm replacing this one with something more productive - Running the 2018 Middlehammer Legacy Project, which looks like it is going to involve a bunch of us co-creating a fantasy warband themed around Middenheim, City of the White Wolf. So obvious similarities, the chance to possibly use some of the 'Potentially good for Frostgrave' lead I have acquired over the last year or so, but I'll only have to paint one figure myself.

5. Sell or trade more minis, games, and rule books.Well, I certainly acquired more minis through trade (including a successful UK to Norway Jes Goodwin Ogre exchange), but mostly I just bought more minis. That counts right?

NO! No it bloody doesn't! I'm surrounded by piles and piles of bloody rule books in particular, including hardback copies of later editions of 40k that I really dislike and have no intention of reading. If there are no more blog posts this year the chances are I was crushed to death by the wobbling towers of grimdark math-hammer. They are bloody heavy!

This one stays, and I'm going to count it completed next year on the sole proviso that I have one way or another shifted enough duplicate and unwanted rule books that I no longer fear for my safety when sat in my office.

So what did I get done?

Loads actually! I painted at least another hundred models this year (although still not keeping a completely accurate count - doh!) including a fair few not seen on this blog because I'm keeping them secret from the prying eyes of my D&D group; got more involved than ever with helping run the Middlehammer facebook group and got to know a great bunch of chaps in the process; ran the first annual (hopefully!) Middlehammer Legacy Project - which has to be one of my highlights of the last few years; completed my modular Snotling diorama for Da Great Snot Off!; taken part in all the Middlehammer monthly painting challenges and met another bunch of good eggs through the High Elves Anonymous support group :)

Another mini painted in 2017 - Teddy from Malifaux, in the style of vicious bastard Care Bear

But most of all I've played loads of games! Monthly D&D sessions (played with 95% painted Old/Middlehammer era minis) have been joined by a couple of games of Shadow War, a few more of Star Wars: Imperial Assault and X-Wing, and a raucous run at the opening act of the Oldenhaller Contract in WFRP. Brilliantly I've also played more Warhammer Fantasy Battle in the last year than I have in all the years combined since 1994/95! Highlights have included meeting fellow Middlehammerers to test rules for the tournament planned for this summer; carrying on the Crisis in Caledor campaign from last year with AVP Shaun; and introducing a friend to the game and helping her collect her first army (Dark Elves). The only downside is how far behind on all the blog posts I am.

2018 certainly holds lots to look forward to hobby wise - I just hope I can keep up with the posts otherwise my regular readership of Russian Bot-Nets will be disappointed. And we can't have that, can we!

Tale of Middlehammer Gamers: Orctober 2017!

Credit to Russ T Painting for the lovely monthly challenge posters!

Howdy folks!

So, the theme of the Tale of Middlehammer Gamers (ToMG) painting challenge for Orctober has been basing. I thought this was a great idea from Russ in terms of helping people keep up productivity and actually get armies fully table top ready. Improving my basing has been something I have been working on (having previously only painted my bases, and often not even bothering to fill in the gaps in slotta bases!), so following on from the success of my project for Da Great Snot Off! I was full of enthusiasm for this one!

I pledged to paint from scratch/re-touch and then base up:

4 Orks/Gretchin for Shadow War Armageddon
3 Ogre Mercenaries (2 existing paint jobs needing rebasing)
4 Assorted Oldhammer Orcs
6 Assorted Old/Middlehammer Goblins
3 Goblin Fanatics
1 Blood Bowl Goblin star player (proxy Goblin Fantatic)
Azhag the Slaughterer's Wyvern (existing paint job needing basing)

I then added two more Blood Bowl Goblin-Proxy Fanatics with existing paint jobs that needed rebasing right at the end... sheesh, that was a lot of basing!

Sorry/Not sorry

Below you can see (almost) my total output for the fantasy side of the Orctober challenge. I also did some Red Period style 40k Orks for Shadow War: Armageddon, which you can see here.

I must apologise for the quality of the photos in this post - for some reason pictures that seemed to display fine on my phone have come out really blurry when uploaded. I'm edging closer and closer to biting the bullet and buying myself a decent digital camera, proving once again that this hobby gets expensive in so many different ways!

First up are three Mercenary Ogres. Two are Blood Bowl Ogres that I had painted quite some time ago and have just been rebased as part of this challenge. The one with the massive sword is a Tim Prow sculpt available for a bargain price from RPE at the time of writing. He's a little shorter than the others, but I like that as it makes Ogres seem more diverse as a race. The look is pure Oldhammer if you ask me. I wanted these guys table ready as I'm planning on including them in my O&G Middlehammer Fantasy tournament force* which is due for a practice outing in November.

*Interesting question here, which I have put to my fellow Middlehammer tournament buds already, but what is the minimum unit size for Ogres in 4th edition WFB? I'm sure I have seen units of three in photo shoots in old WDs for example, but when checking the O&G army book it doesn't have the same exemption as Trolls specifically do about having units of less than 5. But then, neither does the listing for Giants, also under the Units heading, yet we all know they don't have to come in units of five! Let me know your take on this in the comments! :)

In terms of basing these got the previously standard treatment of a base of thin Humbrol Acrylic Matt Green 88, followed by a thin wet brush of Citadel Snot Green, and then a final dry brush of Citadel Sunburst Yellow. It makes for a really vivid green, and is how the majority of my fantasy models have been flocked - but it is wasting my precious Citadel Snot Green, so these are probably the last that will get that version of the treatment.

Other basing components I try and keep consistent include the field stone, which is Citadel Shadow Grew, washed with black ink, then dry brushed with Shadow Grey again, and finally Elf Grey. Together with the bright red toadstools and sunburst yellow dry brush (which I always think looks like it might be tiny flowers mixed in the grass), this field stone treatment forms part of what I think of as the 'fantasy meadow' treatment. I know that sounds naff, but I like the idea of a wooded dell, or mountain top meadow being defiled by battling forces of Orcs and Elves etc... Bwahahahahaha!

The broken weapons and discarded shields and helmet are all from the ever useful Frostgrave Soldiers sprue and were added to emphasise the fearsome nature of the Ogres having caused their opponents to throw down their weapons and run!

As the month wore on and REAL LIFE began to take it's toll this challenge definitely became one of quantity over quality. For a while this was bugging me, and I can see loads of things that I could/should have done better when looking back over these photos. But as JB/Asslessman said in his excellent recent blog post on his entry for a 4 pot painting challenge: "Done is better than perfect." In that spirit I am really happy with my output this month as it has moved me closer to having a second tournament ready force for November.

Next up were some Goblins and Night Goblins. I have large blocks of 4th Ed monopose Gobbo Spears and Archers, but am still in need of more command figures to turn them into fully functioning units. Apologies as I forgot to take a picture of the reverse view, but you aren't missing much.

Basing wise I have swapped to using Coat D'Arms Goblin Green over the darker Humbrol green. This is less lurid than my preferred thinned down Snot Green formula, but is much more sustainable across a large force. Dry brushed with Coat D'Arms Putrid Green, these are now getting the same treatment as my 40k/SWA Space Orks, which is in turn my attempt to match my existing 2nd Ed Ork forces which were painted by a friend's uncle in the early 90s... So Anna B, in anticipation of your objection to the lack of Sunburst Yellow dry brush - it is still "auffentic Ork fashionz from da 90s, right!"

Next we have assorted Orcs; one of Harboth's archers (I think?) which was my second ever metal Oldhammer Orc archer and both have been really lovely models to paint; a member of the Man Mangler crew who, as I sadly don't have a Man Mangler (yet!) will have to do duty on a Skull Crusher instead, an Orc casualty who I have also come to think of as a member of the Skull Crusher crew (lying on his back trying to fix the winch mechanism like a mechanic?); and a Standard Bearer that had been damaged and needed some work. I got the chance to test my new pin vice and fixed in a good length of paper clip.

Basing wise they got the Coat D'Arms Goblin Green/Putrid Green treatment. A piece of loose field stone made sense for the Man Mangler crew, and the Archer and Standard Bearer both got toadstools made out of lentils - all to try and tie the new colour scheme back to that common landscape with the rest of my finished minis.

More apologies now as these photos are both blurred and contain duplicates of the chainsaw wielding loon, but you can see the same strong red and yellow accent colours that dominate my goblin forces are repeated, as are the basing elements of field stone and toadstools - I particularly like those elements for the fanatics, both to emphasise their fungus fuelled mania, and give them something to trip over.

Here you can see the two even more basic paint jobs on two other Blood Bowl Goblins I like to use as proxy fanatics, which I have rebased to fit in with the updated O&G forces.

I have a real penchant for using Blood Bowl minis in WFB as you can see with the two ogres above, and even in RT/40K as with this beast! But, only one of these proxy fanatics looks like a Night Goblin, which led me back to a point I have always wanted to argue - why do only Night Goblins get fanatics!? Yeah, I know it is to do with the special fungus brew etc. but if you think about it, Goblin Doom Divers are just as suicidal (if not more so) and they don't have to be Night Goblins? How much would you object if an opponent wanted to field proxy fanatics in a non-night goblin unit if it seemed in character with the army? your thoughts would be welcome in the comments :)

Finally we have Azhag's Wyvern - who was one of my first purchases from the OTC and painted up straight away ages ago for a special appearance in my D&D campaign, but who remained unbased since then, and still remains unmounted (soon Azhag, soon!).

I wanted to keep the base in keeping with the rest of the force, but needed to break up the block of green to give more contrast against the scales of the Wyvern.

A larger area of broken field stone has helped with that a bit, and has helped disguise the fact the right foot sat quite proud from the base, but given free reign I would have used something other than green as the main colour for this one. Never mind - it's not perfect, but its done, and so is my Orctober 2017 painting challenge!

Big thanks as ever to Russ for running the ToMG challenges, and to everyone who is taking part each month via the Middlehammer facebook group - it's amazing to see so many people taking part!